1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a toothbrush having flexibly mounted bristles on the toothbrush head, and in particular to brushes having an elastomeric component and a non-elastomeric component.
2. The Related Art
Man has developed means of controlling microbially related diseases such as caries and periodontal disease by means of brushing. Whilst the main aim of toothbrushing is to remove plaque, excessive force or brushing frequency can lead to damage of the teeth or surrounding soft tissue. To remove plaque effectively, toothbrush filaments need to penetrate into the "v" shaped interproximal areas between the teeth to remove plaque with the minimum amount of force.
Conventional toothbrushes comprise bristles mounted in rigid head materials. The rigid head material provides support for the bristles.
The bristles are generally mounted on the toothbrush in a substantially upward orientation. Following use over a prolonged period the bristles tend to splay permanently outwards from the upward orientation whereupon the toothbrush is discarded and replaced.
However, it has been found that an improved cleaning operation can be performed with a toothbrush in which the bristles are splayed or adapted to splay in a controllable and repeatable manner. Accordingly, toothbrushes have been developed in which the toothbrush head is flexible to facilitate movement of the bristles in use. The flexible head is usually made up of jointed portions or segments which facilitate articulation of groups of bristles. Generally tufts can only flex in one direction/plane i.e. parallel to the plane defined by the longitudinal axis of the handle transverse to the aforementioned plane. However, a disadvantage of such segments is that unwanted foreign matter can accumulate in spaces between the segments and that individual tufts cannot articulate independently of one another, thereby reducing cleaning and plaque removal efficiency.
Bristles, particularly fine bristles, clean more efficiently when they penetrate effectively into the interproximal spaces between teeth and gums. Fine bristles can exhibit and enhance a splaying effect. In addition, we have found that fine bristles produce a more effective cleaning effect as they penetrate further into the interproximal spaces between the teeth and gums. However, it has been found that fine bristle tufts are particularly susceptible to excessive permanent splaying in use thereby reducing cleaning efficacy. Accordingly, rapid deterioration of the toothbrush results.
An object of the invention is to provide a toothbrush having a head with bristles mounted thereon in which the bristles mounted on the toothbrush head can repeatably and resiliently splay and move in a multidirectional manner to provide more effective cleaning.